~Boise County News~

Boise County

Boise County was established February 4, 1864, with its county seat at Idaho City. It was named for the Boise River, which was named by French-Canadian explorers and trappers for the great variety of trees growing along its banks in the lower desert valley. The Boise Basin, in which Idaho City lies, was one of the richest gold mining districts in the nation. Gold was discovered in 1862 and more of it was pulled from present-day Boise County than from the entire state of Alaska. At its peak in the mid-1860s, Idaho City was the largest city in the Northwest, and it was this rapid population influx that lead to the establishment of the Idaho Territory in 1863. The lower elevation communities of Horseshoe Bend (Payette River) and Boise (Boise River) were staging areas for the Boise Basin mines.

The county's two primary routes are scenic byways. For the majority of their length in the county, both are two-lane undivided highways. The Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway on State Highway 21 climbs northeast from Boise to Idaho City and Lowman, and ends at Stanley in Custer County. The Payette River Scenic Byway on State Highway 55 is a designated national scenic byway. It heads north from Eagle to Horseshoe Bend and climbs the whitewater of the Payette River to Cascade and McCall in Valley County, and ends at New Meadows in Adams County.

Boise County takes in the communities of Banks, Centerville, Crouch, Garden Valley, Gardena, Horseshoe Bend, Idaho City, Lowman, Pioneerville, and Placerville.

The Bogus Basin ski area is in the southwestern part of the county. The county's eastern area contains the central section of the Sawtooth Wilderness, the western part of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.

City Horseshoe Bend: http://horseshoebendidaho.com/

Garden Valley Chamber: http://www.gvchamber.org/

Idaho City Events: http://www.idahocityevents.org/